Hertzler (Hartzler)

The family name, Hertzler, was found before 1750 among the Amish Mennonites in the canton of Bern, the Palatinate, France, and other Mennonite communities in Europe. In 1749 Jacob Hertzler, the first Amish Mennonite minister and bishop in the United States, landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1750 he, with his wife, three sons, and one daughter, settled on a farm two miles west of Hamburg, in Berks County, Pennsylvania. At least three other Hertzlers arrived in Philadelphia between 1749 and 1761, and still others came later, although some of them were not Mennonites.

According to the Hertzler-Hartzler Family History (1952) there were 8,757 families of descendants of Jacob Hertzler at that time. The family in North America covered eleven generations, with a total of 36,548 individuals in 1952. The Hertzler family is spread worldwide, but it is still most commonly found in the United States and Canada.

Bibliography

Hartzler, John, Sr. A Brief Biographic Memorial of Jacob Hertzler and a Complete Genealogical Family Register of His Lineal Descendants. Elkhart, IN, 1885

Hertzler, Silas. The Hertzler-Hartzler Family History. Goshen, IN, 1952.